Man City Square
Fansided

The best and worst of Champions League draw for City

By James Fudge

BELGRADE, SERBIA - AUGUST 21: General view of the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League Play Off First Leg match between FK Crvema Zvezda and FC Red Bull Salzburg at Rajko Mitic Stadium on August 21, 2018 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
BELGRADE, SERBIA - AUGUST 21: General view of the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League Play Off First Leg match between FK Crvema Zvezda and FC Red Bull Salzburg at Rajko Mitic Stadium on August 21, 2018 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next

Any runners-up in Europe’s big leagues will be featuring in this pot and more likely to be the favourite to advance along with their counterparts from Pot One.

Due to the rules, Manchester United and Tottenham are excluded from facing Manchester City, leaving six teams City should all beat on paper.

TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 19: Justin Kluivert, Bryan Cristante and Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma celebrate after their teammate Edin Dzeko scored the opening goal during the Serie A match between Torino FC and AS Roma at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on August 19, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 19: Justin Kluivert, Bryan Cristante and Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma celebrate after their teammate Edin Dzeko scored the opening goal during the Serie A match between Torino FC and AS Roma at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on August 19, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images) /

Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Roma are the teams left with the strongest squads. As seen last year, Roma made it to the semi-finals becoming a dangerous team, a surprise package, by beating Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk along the way.

They have made significant improvements to their squad over the summer using the money from Alisson, Kevin Strootman and Radja Nainggolan to invest in a number of promising youngsters and high-profile stars.

Justin Kluivert and Ante Coric add to the experience of Javier Pastore and Steven Nzonzi signings. Former City stars Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov add to a good squad that Eusebio Di Francesco possesses.

More from Man City Square

Further southwards towards the Amalfi Coast lies Napoli, buoyed by the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti. The possibility of the Italian runners-up will be more of an interesting fixture than in last season’s group stage.

Relationship between the clubs had deteriorated over the summer due to the negotiations over the transfer of Jorginho. Most of the frustration came down to Aurelio De Laurentiis, who seemed to delay the transfer after City improved each time they went to the discussion table.

Ending with the player choosing Chelsea due to the Maurizio Sarri connections.

Borussia Dortmund will be a threat as always and the return of Jadon Sancho will be an exciting prospect as he supplies Marco Reus and new loan signing Paco Alcacer. Westfalenstadion is an intimidating stadium as ever for any champion and will prove a tough test.

Making up the rest of pot is Portuguese giants Benfica, Porto and one City fans will want to avoid is a trip to Shakhtar Donetsk to experience the Ukrainian winter.

Home/Champions League